2: And With This, I Take Thee
by rwparker
Summary: You knew it was eventually going to happen, even if they didn't. The story of THE wedding of the Sengoku Jidai. Inuyasha, I am NOT going to be married by a tanuki!
1. Chapter 1

**"And with this...I take thee..."**

* * *

Chapter 1

* * *

Throughout their years together, no matter what their adventures—and they were many—three things remained constant: Kagome and Inuyasha's unwavering devotion to each other, a love that burned as bright and pure as the sun; a puzzling but persistent inability to speak of their feelings to one another; and especially puzzling to Kagome's family and their friends, a never-ending stream of petty squabbling over niggling trivialities, which only grew louder and more violent as time passed.

On one particular day, Inuyasha and Kagome had been quarrelling more violently than usual—in fact, more violently than ever. It started in Kaede's village—over what, neither of them would ever remember—but at some point, Kagome yelled "I'm going home!" and stomped off to the bone-eater's well. Usually, when she stormed homewards after one of their arguments, Inuyasha would just turn his back, sulk, and let her go; but this time, he chased after her, shouting at her every step of the way. They fought as they made their way through in the forest, they fought at the lip of the well, they fought as they flowed through the stream of time to Kagome's era, they fought as they climbed out of the well, and they fought all the way up to Kagome's room. Kagome's family was eating dinner at the time; they had become more or less used to these lover's spats (actually, they were usually quite amused by them), but this time it was so loud that they had to stuff their napkins in their ears as Inuyasha and Kagome chased each other up the stairs, bellowing all the way.

Finally, Kagome had had enough. She looked Inuyasha squarely in the face, and began screaming at the top of her lungs, "OSUWA..." But then, she had a sudden premonition of what might happen if she "sat" him that hard: she pictured Inuyasha plummeting through the floor and crashing into the dinner table, splattering her chagrined family with the evening meal. She stopped herself cold, and then through gritted teeth, she growled, "Just sit down and shut up."

Inuyasha's beads trembled, but they didn't pull him down; this only made him angrier. "After all these years," he yelled, "you still treat me like a dog. Sit here! Sit there! Sit, sit, sit! Don't you know how much I hate that?" He grabbed his necklace and shook it in her face angrily. "Don't you know how much I hate THESE?"

Kagome's face, already flushed purple with fury, suddenly blanched white-hot with rage. She grabbed the beads violently, and yanked hard on the necklace. Its cord parted with a dull snap, and Kagome hurled the necklace to the floor, where the beads pattered dully as they bounced on the tatami matting. With both hands she grabbed Inuyasha by the kimono, and with her face inches away from his, she screamed hoarsely, "OSUWARI! OSUWARI! OSUWARI! Are you happy? Are you happy? Are you happy?" She shoved him roughly away, and sat down heavily on the bed.

"Ka...Kagome..." Inuyasha stammered, his hand tentatively touching his chest where the beads used to lie, his face frozen in disbelief.

"Just...go _away_, Inuyasha," Kagome said weakly, holding her head in her hands. "Go back to your own time. Go anywhere you want. Just get out of my house. Just...just go away."

Inuyasha stared numbly at Kagome for a few moments. He started to reach for her, but then his hand dropped resignedly to his side. He desperately tried to think of something, anything to say to her; but no words came.

When he finally found his voice, all he could say was, "Kagome...goodbye." He walked to the window, looked at her one last time, and jumped out.

* * *

Inuyasha tottered dazedly across the temple courtyard, his eyes downcast on the ground, paying no attention to the direction he was heading. When he left Kagome's room, he had intended to go straight to the well and back to the past, but when he looked up, he found himself at the foot of the Goshinboku.

"Kagome..." he whispered weakly to himself. He pressed his forehead to the trunk, and felt the life that coursed through the tree; and he remembered how his soul had reached through time, rushing with the tree's spirit from his era to Kagome's time, to speak directly to her soul, and how he had somehow gathered all his courage to say to her, "I need you." It had been the first time in his life that he had ever said those words to anyone—but he had only managed as much because he was too afraid to speak the words that he had really wanted to say: "I love you." And now, he was afraid that it was too late.

He turned himself around, and leaned heavily against the tree, looking up into its spreading canopy. "I never knew my father," he said softly to himself, "he died the day I was born. My mother died when I was still a child. My brother hated me and tried to kill me every time we met. Naraku turned Kikyo against me. And now, Kagome is gone too." He sighed heavily. "I've always been alone. I guess I'm alone again." He straightened, took one last look at the Goshinboku, and then slowly headed towards the shrine of the well.

He had barely left the shade of the Goshinboku when a kind, mild voice stopped him: "Inuyasha. Please don't go." He wheeled around, and was surprised to see not Kagome, but her mother, standing in the middle of the courtyard.

Kagome's mother joined Inuyasha at the foot of the Goshinboku, and looked up into its canopy of leaves. "Kagome has told me what this tree means to the two of you, and I can see from the way you look at it that it has a special place in your life. It has a special place in all of our lives, too—and especially mine." She sat on the bench at the foot of the tree, and patted the empty side of the bench, inviting Inuyasha to join her.

Instead of sitting on the bench, he sat on the ground at her feet, his eyes downcast, unable to meet hers; but Kagome's mother smiled gently at him, and began to speak in a soothing voice. "Listening to you and Kagome reminds me very much of me and my husband. We fought all the time." She laughed, and winked at Inuyasha. "At least you two only argue. We used to throw things, too—we had to replace a lot of broken dishes during the first years of our marriage." She giggled at the memory, then continued, "But we knew that we loved each other, and that's what really mattered, and we always remembered that." Then she sighed, and looked longingly at the Goshinboku. "My dear husband...he was a gentle man, a kind man, a wonderful husband, and a loving father. He would have liked you very much."

She gently stroked Inuyasha's long silky hair as she spoke; she did not know it, but that was exactly what his mother used to do when he was sad or lonely. And without even realizing that he was doing so, he leaned against her and rested his head in her lap, just as he used to do with his own mother, so very many years ago.

Kagome's mother continued: "You know, don't you, that Kagome and Souta owe their existence to this tree. It was here that I realized that my husband and I were born to be together, and it was here that I proposed to him. We were married at the foot of this tree, as well—and soon I had my beautiful children. They loved this tree too—Kagome especially loved to play here. She danced around this tree before she could walk to it. Grandpa used to get so angry at her, especially during temple festivals—he'd be in the middle of some long rambling prayer, trying his best to look solemn, and never doing really a very good job of it, and Kagome would run around the tree through the middle of everything, singing and dancing." She giggled again, and despite himself, even Inuyasha had to laugh at the thought.

And she told him how her husband had died very unexpectedly in a terrible accident that had nearly destroyed the temple, and that it had been a horrible shock to all of them; and how Kagome had always been the strongest of them all. Kagome, who was only nine years old when her father died, had been the one who pulled everyone else through the pain and the loss. She had helped Mama tend the house when even the simple act of sweeping was too much to bear; she had helped Grandfather with the putting up and taking down of all the ritual materials that a death at the temple demanded, something that was all the more difficult because it was for a family member; and she had been the perfect big sister to Souta, who had taken Father's death especially hard. Kagome was always supportive, always brave, always strong, and it was only she who could make Souta smile during the first difficult months after Father had died.

Mama rose, then walked to the tree and caressed it tenderly. "It was also this tree that showed me how special Kagome was. I didn't tell her at the time—I didn't tell her until years later—but a few weeks after the funeral, I brought my husband's ashes here, and buried them at the foot of our tree, so that he could nourish it and help it watch over us. I didn't tell Kagome—but somehow, she could feel her father's presence here...just as I can to this day...just as I can right now." She pressed her forehead lovingly against the Goshinboku's trunk, then turned back to Inuyasha and continued. "Helping us so much had worn her out. She was such a big help for so long, but finally it was too much for such a little girl. She stopped playing, stopped talking to her friends...and eventually, she never even came out of her room, not even for meals. She wouldn't have eaten anything if I hadn't brought it in to her, and sat with her until she had finished at least _something_. But the very day that I buried her father's ashes at the foot of the tree, Kagome left her room—she came here that evening, and every evening after that, for weeks. I don't know exactly what she felt, but she knew that she could find comfort here. I can't tell you how many times I carried her to bed...I would find her here, with her little arms trying to reach all the way around the trunk of that big tree, lying where she had cried herself to sleep. But she never let Souta see one tear—not one."

Again Mama rested her forehead against the tree, and smiled at something only she could perceive; then, she raised her face to the sun as it shined gently through the canopy of leaves, and said quietly, "It is my wish that when I die, my ashes should be brought here, so that my husband and I can be reunited—and then the two of us can watch over our family together, just as we have always done." She walked back to Inuyasha, resumed her seat beside him, looked deeply into his golden eyes, and said kindly but gravely, "And you must promise me that no matter what happens, if Kagome is still traveling into the past, you will take some of my ashes there and bury them at your Goshinboku, so that I can watch over her in your time, too."

Inuyasha couldn't meet her gaze; he looked down, and choked out quietly, "I promise."

This, at last, was too much for him to bear. Inuyasha had loved his own mother dearly, and he had never truly recovered from his grief at her death. His mother's courtiers had only suffered Inuyasha's presence at his mother's insistence; when she died, he was shunned, thrown out into the world alone with only Myoga for a companion (who was well intentioned, but worse than useless in helping the young Inuyasha cope with his mother's death, and was quick to abandon his young master at the least sign of trouble). Inuyasha had come to love Kagome's mother nearly as much as he had his own, and in the gentle good humor and soothing voice of Kagome's mother he had found the comfort that he had missed terribly for so many years. And it broke his heart to think that had he not only lost Kagome, whom he loved more than his own life, but that he would have to say farewell to this kind woman as well, and speaking to her of her own death was simply too much; and only for the second time since his childhood, he quietly began to cry.

Kagome's mother thoughtfully made no mention of the tears that she saw in the corners of Inuyasha's eyes, or how he blinked furiously to hold them back and dabbed furtively at his eyes with the edge of his robe; she just kept talking quietly, gently stroking his hair, until she felt that his grief had run its course and he had mastered himself again. Then she hugged him lovingly, and kissed his cheek; and as she stood up, her gaze rose again to the Goshinboku's regal canopy, and she said, "I knew that you and Kagome were meant for each other the first day that I met you. Please be patient with her. Don't go back to your own time just yet. Stay here; please wait, just a little longer." She walked quietly off towards the house, leaving Inuyasha with his thoughts.


	2. Chapter 2

**"And with this...I take thee..."**

* * *

Chapter 2

* * *

Back in her room, Kagome was seething. "That...IDIOT Inuyasha," she growled to herself through clenched teeth. She sat at her desk, and held her head in her hands. "He doesn't get it. He just _doesn't_ get it." Looking up into the mirror, she saw her bow and quiver of arrows, resting in the corner of her room. "Now I know why Kikyo wanted to shoot him," she thought angrily, "I wonder why she didn't shoot him more often. Sometimes I'd like to shoot him myself." Her thoughts suddenly went back to the day she met Inuyasha, hanging from Kikyo's arrow on the Goshinboku, and how her first thoughts of him were of how beautiful he looked. Then her eyes fell on the broken necklace on the floor, and she remembered the choked sound of Inuyasha's whispered "goodbye;" and suddenly, the realization of what she had done hit her in the pit of her stomach, and for a horrible moment, she felt as though her heart stopped beating.

"Oh no," she gasped, "What have I done?" Tears welled up in her eyes, and she sat numbly staring at herself in the mirror for a moment; then she dived at the floor in a panicked flurry.

"Inuyasha...oh no..." Her voice shook as she frantically scrabbled for the necklace's scattered beads. "Inuyasha...what have I done...what have I done?" She tried to gather what she could, but her hands shook so badly that she could not hold onto anything, and the beads clattered dully as they fell from her quivering hands onto the floor and rolled in every direction. She watched the beads slip through her trembling fingers with an anguished moan, and then she crumpled to the floor, utterly defeated, weeping bitterly.

There was a gentle knock at the door; it was Mama. She opened the door slowly, then she saw her daughter wracked in sorrow on the floor. "Kagome-chan," she said softly, "Oh, my poor, sweet Kagome-chan."

Her mother knelt beside Kagome and softly slipped her hands under Kagome's shoulders. She gently helped Kagome to rise, then eased her to a seat on the bed.

"Oh, Mama," Kagome cried as she hugged her mother tightly. "I'm so cruel...and I'll never see Inuyasha again! I've broken his necklace and I sent him away, and now he's gone and I don't know how I'll ever find him ... oh, no! How can I ever face him again? How can he bear to even look at me?"

Kagome's mother held her daughter tenderly, comforting her, wiping her tears and stroking her hair. "I know, dear, I know...we get caught up in the heat of the moment, and we just...say things, and of course we don't mean them, but we say them anyway. And sometimes we say the wrong things, things that we never mean, to the ones we love...because we don't know how to say the _right_ things. But loving someone means understanding that these things happen...and that when you love someone, you can find the strength to forgive them."

Mama gently turned Kagome's face towards hers. "Inuyasha loves you, you know." ("I know," Kagome whispered through her tears.) "And you two have been through too much for him to give up on you so easily. Why don't you dry your eyes and go sit under the Goshinboku—I've always found that when I sit under the sacred tree, I am able to see the truth that my heart wants to show me."

"Thank you, mama," Kagome said, and she did her best to dry her tears, straighten her hair, and put herself in order; and she quietly slipped down the stairs and through the living room (where her grandfather and Souta very considerately pretended not to notice her) and walked out into the courtyard.

As she approached the Goshinboku, she saw Inuyasha, and the sight of him standing there took her breath away. The light of the sun was dappled green and gold as it filtered through the great tree's leaves. The last of the springtime blossoms still clung to the nearby cherry trees, and the early summer's gentle breeze wafted the pink petals about like butterflies; and as Inuyasha's beautiful long hair was tossed in the wind and his face glowed in the soft sunlight, Kagome thought that she had never seen anything so beautiful in all her life.

Inuyasha heard her walking towards him, and he turned and looked her straight in the eye. Kagome was terrified; expressing his emotions was very difficult for Inuyasha, and he usually couldn't meet her eyes when he spoke of them. She could not imagine what had given him the strength to meet her gaze, and she feared the worst.

"Kagome." Inuyasha spoke quietly, intensely. "You stood by me when nobody else would. You stayed by my side, even the times that I left yours to go after Kikyo." He turned his face aside for a moment. "Keh. Kikyo kept trying to kill you, and every time you forgave her. You even saved her life—more than once—not just because you thought it was right, but for my sake."

Inuyasha walked to Kagome, and looked deeply into her eyes. "No matter how much Kikyo may have cared for me, her heart was cold. She was never happy with who she was, or who _I_ was. She was always distant...she never even held my hand. But you..." Inuyasha gently took her hand, and Kagome's heart leapt within her chest. "Your heart was warm. You never wanted me to be anything besides myself—and I've always been too scared to tell you how much you mean to me."

He gently pressed her hand to his heart. "Kagome, I need you. I can't imagine life without you. Please don't send me away. I belong at your side...and you belong at mine. I want to... tell you how much I..." His voice faltered, and he turned aside, looking at the ground. Then, suddenly, he looked straight at her. "I love, you, OK?" he said roughly; then more gently, his eyes downcast, he whispered, "I mean...I love you, Kagome. I want to be yours...if you'll have me." He looked into her eyes and said, "Will you be mine?"

She tenderly took his face in her hands. "Of course, Inuyasha...yes! I love you, too, Inuyasha. I want to be together with you...forever." She drew her face towards his, closed her eyes, and with tears of joy streaming down her face, kissed him lovingly.

She looked up into his golden eyes, and she felt like she could see the whole world glistening within them. "Take me home, Inuyasha," Kagome whispered.

He looked, puzzled, towards her house. "You _are_ home," he said quizzically.

"No, Inuyasha," she said gently. "This is _my_ home. Take me back to _our_ home, _our_ time."

Inuyasha understood. He nodded, then took her up in his arms, and she rested her head on his chest. He walked to the well, and he smiled sweetly at her as he jumped in. There was a blue flash and a sparkle, and they were gone.

From her vantage point upstairs in Kagome's room, Kagome's mother dabbed happily at her eyes as she watched the two lovers embrace under the Goshinboku, then sighed contentedly as they disappeared into the well-house. She stayed at the window for quite a while, looking at the courtyard, lost in her thoughts; presently Grandpa happened by, and seeing her faraway look, he asked, "So, where's your daughter off to now?"

Kagome's mother smiled. "She's gone home with my son."

Grandpa was puzzled. "Gone home? With Souta? What? Where? Oh. Oh. ...OHHHH!" It took a moment to sink in. "I see...Better start picking names for the children, then," he muttered to himself as he wandered back downstairs.

* * *

Back in the feudal era, Inuyasha and Kagome rose out of the well, still in each other's arms; and Inuyasha began to run with a joyous abandon, with a lightness he had never known before. Kagome rested her head against his warm red robe, breathed deeply of his dusky sweet scent, and closed her eyes, utterly at peace with him, with herself, and the world. From time to time, she raised her eyes to his face, and basked in the warmth of his smile and the gentle fondness she saw in his eyes as he looked down at her.

The shadows lengthened as day lengthened into dusk, and still Inuyasha ran. Eventually he stopped, and set Kagome down. She found herself at a high promontory overlooking a vast and peaceful lake; its calm azure surface mirrored the serene twilight indigo of the sky above, and as they watched, a gentle breeze spread shimmering ripples that twinkled and glistened in the day's waning light. The sun had just set; its dim ruddy glow still warmed the horizon, and the light of the first stars had just begun to pierce the darkening sky. The rising moon cast its gentle gleam upon the waters and on the verdant hill on which they stood, and the diamond dewdrops on the grass around them formed a lush and glittering carpet whose beauty rivaled the starry dome above them. For a long time, they stood looking at the lake in silence; then, they lay together on the grass, watching the glittering heavens slowly turning over them. The great shimmering river of the Milky Way coursed across the sky, and the fireflies danced above them, their living lights swirling amongst the jeweled stars of the night.

The evening wind eventually became cool, and Kagome shivered slightly as she lay on the grass. Inuyasha untied his robe and wrapped it tentatively around them both. She shyly allowed him to wrap her in it, and for a moment she blushed with her gaze downcast. But then, her clear eyes looked up into his, and she smiled sweetly and kissed him; and she pressed her cheek against his chest, snuggled underneath his long and silken hair, and hugged him tightly. It was the first time that they had laid thus in each other's arms; and thus it was that they passed the night together there, never once withdrawing from each other's embrace. And each reveled in the gentle perfume of their beloved's hair, the strength of their arms, the warmth of their bodies, and the beating of their hearts, which leapt with each new word and each new touch; and they tenderly caressed each other with lover's whispers, sharing the most intimate and precious songs of their hearts.


	3. Chapter 3

**"And with this...I take thee..."**

* * *

Chapter 3

* * *

It took Inuyasha a long time to comprehend the human ritual of marriage. Bonding for life he had always understood, as it was a common custom amongst hanyous and even between youkai and humans; but the wedding ritual itself was something that only humans performed, and the whole business confused him. When Kagome first tried to explain it, he became rather annoyed. "How many times have I thrown my body between you and death—and how many times have you done the same for me? What words could we possibly say that would mean more than that?" Kagome didn't really have an answer for that, of course, but eventually, she made him understand that it was just something that would mean a great deal to her, and could he please just go along with it?

Kagome had hoped that Inuyasha might understand her desires well enough to be willing to propose to her formally—her favorite fantasy was of Inuyasha in a tuxedo, kneeling grandly before her with a bouquet of roses in one hand and a diamond ring in the other. She tried dropping hints, but Inuyasha never picked up on any of them; and after Kagome had spent the better part of one afternoon talking in circles around the topic, Inuyasha finally blurted out in exasperation, "So, what is this about? You want to get married, or not?" At that, Kagome figured that it was the best "proposal" she would ever get out of him, and she decided to quit while she was ahead.

Kagome's mother was overjoyed when she heard about the engagement. Kagome knew that her mother would be happiest if the ceremony could take place in the modern era, but even the thought of taking Inuyasha to some government office to apply for a marriage license made her head spin, and she couldn't begin to imagine trying to convince him to take a blood test. Every time she thought about it, she foresaw the same enraged explosion: "They want my _blood_? For WHAT?" So she soon settled herself to a ceremony in the feudal era, and her mother (to Kagome's great relief) agreed that it was the right choice. "Of course I'm sad that I can't see my beautiful daughter's wedding," she said, "but if you have it here your friends can't attend, and I know how important they are to you. Just be sure to bring me some pictures, and I'll be happy! We'll have a party for the two of you afterwards."

Although Inuyasha eventually warmed to the concept of the wedding itself, he never really understood the concept of "ceremony," and Kagome quickly grew weary of answering his questions and fending off his "helpful" suggestions.

"No, Inuyasha, we can't just 'say the words and get it over with now.' It has to be special."

"Yes, Inuyasha, you have to dress up too. Everybody does."

"No, Inuyasha, we can't 'just get Hatchi to do it.' I am _not_ going to be married by a tanuki!"

Fortunately for both of them, Inuyasha finally relented and let Kagome have her way with the wedding, and he usually wandered off to play with the cat whenever Kagome and her mother began talking about the ceremony. Which, frankly, made everyone much happier.

* * *

Kagome spent her last night as a single woman in her mother's house. Her mother threw her a splendid party, inviting her friends from high school, neighbors, and many longtime friends of the family. Kagome had long ago developed a plausible history for Inuyasha: he was an exotic foreigner, dashing and mysterious, a little troublesome sometimes...but then again, what man wasn't? Kagome's girlfriends had met him long ago when they were all in middle school, and they remembered him as being cool, even "dreamy," so Kagome was fortunately spared from manufacturing too many details, and she let her friend's memories and colorful imaginations direct the conversations. As for the honeymoon, Kagome would only say coyly, "He's taking us camping, somewhere far away and romantic." Everyone showered her with gifts and warm wishes for a happy future, and they went long into the night talking and laughing, regaling each other with tales of men and their foibles, the care and feeding of husbands, and such secrets as women only tell each other when their men are not around.

Inuyasha spent his last night as a bachelor watching his friends get plastered. Miroku had suggested many extravagant and indulgent possibilities for the evening (all of which presumed that he could elude Sango); but Inuyasha, for all of his bluster, was a bit of a prude, and vetoed Miroku's every suggestion. Inuyasha finally acceded to a simple, men-only evening, and so the four friends—Miroku, Inuyasha, Shippou, and Hatchi—headed into the forest and settled down around the fire.

The evening had begun civilly enough, with Miroku coaching Inuyasha on the ceremony, and cautioning him about the importance of the ritual sake that symbolized his joining with Kagome as man and wife, and how he should not make faces at the taste or spit it out in disgust. Inuyasha didn't drink—he didn't like the taste of alcohol any more than he liked the taste of curry—so after he fought down a few practice sips, he quickly pushed his cup aside and let his friends happily drink the night away on their own. Shippou very bravely tried to keep up, but he had not had Miroku's years of practice, and he was soon belly up and snoring—although shortly before he passed out, Shippou offered Inuyasha the only real piece of advice he received all evening: "You have a good heart, Inuyasha. Don't pretend you don't, because we know better. If you're ever in doubt, listen to your heart; it'll lead you down the right road."

Shippou's early exit from the evening's festivities was a source of great amusement to Miroku and Hatchi, who laughed uproariously as they swore loudly to take up the burden of making Inuyasha's "last evening of freedom" memorable despite the failures of their fox-demon friend. With a redoubled zeal they began pounding down toast after toast to Inuyasha and his bride, to their lives together in wedded bliss, to a home bursting with happy children, and to the prodigious conjugal duties Inuyasha would have to perform to beget those children (this last was accompanied by much chortling and elbowing in the ribs, much to Inuyasha's embarrassment and disgust). Their toasting continued with round after round offered to the heroic exploits of their beloved comrades in arms. Miroku began with reasonably chaste praises of Kagome's valor and beauty, but Hatchi countered with some significantly more ribald exaltations of Sango's prowess both on and off the battlefield, and soon they were offering dueling toasts that became increasingly more lurid and improbable...a contest in which Inuyasha had no interest and to which he paid little attention. It was well into the early morning when Inuyasha returned to Kaede's village, with one snoring body draped over each shoulder and the third tucked into his kimono, and he dumped the sleeping revelers unceremoniously on the floor of the house they had been loaned for the night and left them to find some peace and quiet (and a few hours' sleep) in the high branches of a nearby tree.

* * *


	4. Chapter 4

**"And with this...I take thee..."**

* * *

Chapter 4

* * *

The wedding day dawned bright and clear, and Kagome was too nervous to eat the breakfast her mother had made. Sooner than anyone expected, it was time to go; and Mama, Grandpa and Souta came to the well to bid Kagome a joyous but tearful goodbye.

When she arrived in the feudal era, Kagome was met by Shippou and Sango. Sango muttered something darkly about Miroku being "unavoidably delayed" and was not particularly forthcoming with any additional details, but she reported that otherwise everything was ready to go. Kagome showed them the camera that her mother had sent with her, and was struggling vainly to explain the concept of photography when Shippou snatched the camera out of her hands. "It's magic—magic from Kagome's time!" he laughed gleefully. "If it's magic—leave it to me!"

Even Rin came. Everyone welcomed her warmly, but nobody knew just how she had found out about it (Kagome was overjoyed, all the same). Miroku was especially gallant in his greeting; it was the first time he had seen Rin in many years, and she was tall, regal, and radiantly beautiful. He couldn't help himself; he took her hands between his, and ignoring Sango's furious snorts behind him, he began to ask Rin the same question he asked every beautiful woman: "Would you do me the honor of..."

Rin just stared at him, but it was not with the face of a puzzled child: it was with the soul-piercing gaze that she had learned from Sesshomaru, powerful enough to crack granite. After only a second or two of that terrible stare, Miroku withered, and finished his question with as much grace as he could: "...of, er, of...of wearing this flower?" He hastily pulled a blossom from the grass at his feet, placed it in her hand, bowed, and quickly slunk away.

Sango hugged Rin with her prettiest, most grateful smile, then ran after Miroku, shouting angrily, "Don't think you can get away with it _that_ easily, you perverted houshi-sama..."

* * *

Kagome was resplendent in a simple white Western-style dress, with a bodice trimmed in lace and pearls. A short train, held in place with a coronet of lavender and white roses, covered her rich black hair, and a delicate and diaphanous veil was over her face; and never had she been so radiant or so lovely. She was carried to her groom on Kirara's back, with Shippou walking before them both, strewing their path with flower petals. As a special surprise, Shippou had created an enthusiastic choir of mushrooms to serenade the bride as she passed through the forest; their gentle out-of-tune warbling was comical but sweet, and Kagome was very touched at the gesture.

Kagome, Kirara and Shippou at last arrived at the glade of the Goshinboku, not far from the very spot where she had first seen Inuyasha. A bridal bower had been built there, at the foot of the great tree. It was woven of green boughs and flowering vines, and redolent with the buds of early summer; it was crowned by a circlet of fox-fire, and the lush emerald turf underneath it was carpeted with sweet-smelling petals of every color. A circle had been laid in white granite stones, and a small candle had been set on top of each stone; and tiny crystals in the stones glittered in the flickering flames and the shimmering shadows cast by the Goshinboku's leaves as they fluttered in the breeze.

In the center of the circle stood Kaede, trying her best to look solemn but completely unable to hide her happiness; to her left waited Sango, resplendent in a delicate kimono of coral and white, belted with green silk embroidered with cherry blossoms and morning doves: a gift from Kagome's mother. Her hair was bejeweled with tiny flowers, and her eyes sparkled with tears of joy. To Kaede's right stood Miroku, a wreath of white and lavender orchids around his neck and a matching garland entwined about his staff; he wore a serene and priestly expression, concealing his heroic hangover with all the style and grace that he could muster. And standing before them all, welcoming his bride with right hand outstretched, was Kagome's beloved Inuyasha. He was dressed as ever in the crimson robe of the Fire-Rat, but over it he wore a beautiful black vest: a warrior's vest, a _kataginu_, regal and wide-shouldered, richly damasked in crimson and indigo, trimmed with silver and gold thread. He was belted with a satin sash of midnight blue and gold, and on the belt were embroidered signs that symbolized the joining of his family with Kagome's. There was a crescent moon rising over a lotus blossom, the crests of Inuyasha's father and mother, which Inuyasha had never worn until this day; and they were set under a temple gate, the emblem of the Higurashi family.

Kagome dismounted from Kirara and walked solemnly towards them, her eyes sparkling, her gaze fixed on her beloved's face. Miroku whispered quietly to Inuyasha, "My, Inuyasha—doesn't Kagome-sama look beautiful today?"

Inuyasha and Sango both leaned in to Miroku, never taking their eyes off Kagome or changing their expressions. Quietly, out of the sides of their mouths, they spoke in perfect in unison: "Touch her and I'll kill you."

It was a wonderful ceremony, simple and beautiful. Inuyasha not only managed not to spit out the ceremonial sake, but his expression never varied from one of rapt devotion, his eyes never leaving Kagome's. (Actually, he admitted later, he hadn't even noticed the taste.)

They solemnly vowed to love, protect, and cherish one another; then, Kaede asked Inuyasha, "What token do you bring to this woman?" Inuyasha brought out a beautiful gold ring, set with a heart-shaped ruby, which had been Kagome's grandmother's wedding ring. Grandpa had taken Inuyasha aside one day, muttered something that Inuyasha couldn't make out, slapped him on the shoulder, tearfully called him "son," then pressed the ring into his hand and ran off blubbering. Inuyasha had understood none of it, and he had to seek out Kagome's mother to explain what had happened and what it meant.

Inuyasha slipped the ring on Kagome's finger, and somehow managed to choke out, "And with this...I take thee as my beloved wife."

Kaede turned to Kagome, and asked her the same question: "What token do you bring to this man?" Kagome blinked; this wasn't the way they had rehearsed it, and the question took her quite aback. She looked downcast, and said almost inaudibly, "I have nothing."

Inuyasha smiled. "Yes, you do." He reached into the sleeve of his robe, then he pressed something into her hands. When she opened them, she saw his prayer-bead necklace, as good as new, except that one of the brown beads had been replaced with one of gold.

"Are you _sure_, Inuyasha?" she asked.

Inuyasha smiled. "Well, since we're making promises today..." he whispered with a sly smile, "...only if you promise to quit using it so much."

Kagome blinked the tears out of her eyes, and her voice broke as she said, "I promise." Then, tenderly, she lowered the necklace over his head, and she said with a proud and clear voice, "And with this...I take thee as my beloved husband."

* * *

Despite Shippou's professed familiarity with "magic from Kagome's time," his skill with a camera was questionable at best. When Kagome returned to her time and the film was developed, they found a terrifying hodgepodge of random images that included a disturbing number of extreme close-ups of thumbs, noses, and feet. One of the most unnerving contained only Hatchi's left eye, a dark pupil nearly filling the frame with a sinister glare.

The later pictures were significantly better than the earlier ones. By the end of the roll, Shippou seemed to finally have mastered the camera. There were several charming shots of Kagome being toasted by her smiling friends, and even one or two where Inuyasha wasn't glowering at something or someone. There were also a few truly incredible pictures that made Kagome's mother howl with laughter and Kagome blush hotly with embarrassment. One captured the magical moment in which a slightly tipsy Miroku was groping for Kagome as she bent over to pick a flower; the next, taken only seconds later, depicted that same Miroku flying through the air, having been dealt a mighty blow by an enraged Sango. Another picture taken later in the party depicted a _very_ tipsy Sango giving a lusty double-handed clutch to the backside of a very surprised Inuyasha, sending him flying into the air while a thoroughly amused Kagome and a surprisingly jealous Miroku looked on from the background.

Fortunately for Kagome's mother, Kagome had had the presence of mind to shoot some pictures herself and pose some others for Shippou to take, so a good many memories of the day were successfully brought home. But somehow, in the midst of all the odd photographs that Shippou had taken, he managed to capture the one most important moment of all, and he got it absolutely perfectly: the bride and groom's first kiss as husband and wife, surrounded by their loving friends, framed by their beautiful bower with its crown of magical fox-fire; and enfolding and embracing them all was the great Goshinboku, sunlight streaming through its majestic canopy and warmly lighting the lovers' faces. It was a beautiful photograph, and anyone who saw it, whether or not they knew the bride or groom, was immediately suffused with the joy of that precious moment. A copy of that picture received a place of honor in the Higurashi household, and Kagome's mother revered it to her dying day as her most precious and beloved possession.

As for the honeymoon...well, that's _another_ story.

* * *


End file.
